


Pride in the Detail

by ncruuk



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 09:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7752964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncruuk/pseuds/ncruuk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Osgood's got an administrative problem that requires a visit to the UNIT Library to solve... or she could just ask Kate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pride in the Detail

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darklioness82](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darklioness82/gifts).



> For those of you not already familiar with the adventures of Tronkie and Drinkie, you can find out a bit more of them in either my Kate/Osgood story 'A New Year...and McGillop drank (most of) his beer' or Code Word Classified: Gallifrey [my Dr Who/Stargate crossover, Chapter 17 to be specific].

“No….” Osgood put down her tablet and set about polishing her glasses whilst continuing her conversation with herself, “...I refuse to believe that something as basic as a drop down menu is going to stop this…”

 

“Everything ok?” McGillop looked up from his microscope just in time to see Osgood glare at her presumably now immaculate glasses right before she put them back on.

 

“Hmm?”  Surprised at his question, she looked over at him, considering his equipment set up thoughtfully.  “You might have more luck if you continue the analysis using samples in water or an oil.  The last time I was looking at Tegrunti technology, I couldn’t actually get very far as their prefered alloy for manufacturing seems to be something that rapidly oxidises.”

 

“Oh.”  McGillop looked at his equipment set up and scratched his neck, grateful for the advice since it would save him a fair amount of time but also rather wrong-footed.  “Thanks, but I was asking if everything was ok, with your…” He was going to say experiment but realised that there was no equipment near her other than the computer, “...whatever.”  He waved an arm vaguely in the computer’s direction.  “You were speaking to it quite forcefully.”

 

“Oh, sorry.”  McGillop wasn’t actually sure if she was apologising to him or the computer, but he suspected it was the computer.

 

“Can I help?  Is it a software update issue?”  He’d been caught with a similar problem last month, when no one seemed to have bothered to work out whether their various non-terrestrial analytics programmes were compatible with Windows 10, although it had ceased to be a problem fairly quickly when the few machines that had been updated were reversed when it became clear that their decidedly terrestrial printers weren’t compatible either.

 

“Oh, no...well, yes, in a way, but it’s a website, and a drop down menu…. actually, I think I need to go to the library to do some research…” She turned off the computer monitor, picked up her  mug that actually contained some leftover risotto she was eating for a late lunch, looked once more at McGillop’s experiment set-up before, armful of tablet and files clutched to her chest, she left, headed for the library, leaving McGillop to consider what he was going to do next.  Logic suggested he should dismantle everything he’d just finished setting up, but male pride being what it was…. he focussed the microscope lens over his sample.  Surely it couldn’t be that bad, could it?

 

* * *

  
  


“Os?”  Not really expecting to hear an acknowledgment if she was engrossed in some research, Kate Stewart continued into the lab that was technically McGillop’s but had become Osgood’s shortly after she’d first joined UNIT.  “Oh, hello McGillop…” Kate put her mug down on the end of the workbench and looked about the room, confirming to herself that not only was her girlfriend not here, but it looked like she was working somewhere else rather than just temporarily away from the lab.  “Is that Tegrunti technology?”

 

“Yes.”  McGillop stepped back from the workbench to consider his second attempt at setting up some equipment so he could try to complete the analysis that had been on the UNIT ‘would be nice to know’ to-do list for quite some time.

 

“What approach are you using?” asked Kate, leaning forwards to see if she could work it out for herself first, “to stop the oxidising?”

 

“I hadn’t decided yet…” began McGillop cautiously, wondering how he was the only person to not know about the rapid oxidisation before he started, “Osgood suggested water or an oil of some sort…”

 

“The Tegrunti are nitrogen-based lifeforms…” It was comments like that that gave Kate’s biologist background away at times, with her more likely to remember things about the aliens than their culture or technology.  “You could use the atmosphere controlled lab on Level 7 with a high nitrogen environment…” she considered his apparatus thoughtfully, then looked at him, “six of one and half a dozen of the other I suppose - gloves and tongs in your own lab or facemask in the Level 7 lab.”  Kate shoved her hand in her pocket and picked up her coffee mug, preparing to leave since Os wasn’t here.  “Any idea where Os is?”

 

“She said something about the Library, needing to do some research…”  McGillop wasn’t giving Kate his full attention any more, not now she’d mentioned doing the analysis in the Level 7 lab which he had forgotten about.

 

“The Library?  Not the Black Archive?”

 

“The Library,” confirmed McGillop, scratching his head as he considered what would be the better option and whether anyone would notice if he just dismantled the equipment and put the Tegrunti equipment back into store for someone else to test another time.  “Something about a drop down menu I think she said.”  Belatedly, he remembered who he was talking to and looked up, intending to apologise to Kate for not paying attention to her, only to see the lab door closing just behind her, no offence taken…the abandoned empty coffee mug the only proof she’d ever been.

* * *

  
  
  


“Os?”

 

“Oh, hello.”  Osgood put the book she’d been studying the cover of back on the shelf and picked up her mug, which she’d parked on the top of a convenient bookcase.  “Risotto?” she offered, holding the mug out to Kate, knowing that she was probably correct in presuming that her girlfriend had also missed lunch.

 

“You should eat it,” encouraged Kate with more resolve than she’d given herself credit for, remembering how good the risotto had been ‘fresh’ for dinner last night.  “I know you missed lunch too.”

 

“Yes, but I had elevenses.” Osgood stretched her arm out straighter, pushing the mug nearer to Kate who, knowing when to concede, took hold of the risotto filled mug.

 

“Thanks…” Kate ate a large forkful of the warmed risotto, feeling all the better for it immediately, which was nutritionally impossible but welcome.  “Everything ok?”

 

“What? Oh, yes…” Osgood put the book she’d been looking at back on the shelf behind Kate and looked thoughtfully along the shelves for where to go next.

 

“But?”

 

“Mmm? Oh, no but.”  Osgood frowned at the book just past Kate’s right ear, before clearing her throat and making little shoving gestures with her hands, trying to will her girlfriend to get out of the way.  Unfortunately, it had the complete opposite effect, with Kate pointedly taking a small shuffling step to her right and deliberately leaning back against the shelves, completely stymying Os.  “Ka-ate….”

 

“Risotto?” Kate held up a heaped forkful of the warm sticky rice, her expression relaxed but the set of her shoulders clear.  She wasn’t moving until Os had eaten something, and probably even then wasn’t going to get completely out of the way without some sort of explanation.

 

“I still want the book…” grumbled Os, nevertheless obediently opening her mouth, rationalising that it was pushing her lover’s fork skills to return the risotto to the mug or eat it herself if Osgood didn’t eat it, and it was really far too good for the floor.

 

“Is it exciting?” asked Kate, helping herself to a smaller forkful whilst she waited for Os to finish, knowing full well that it couldn’t be, as this section of the Library was the rather dusty tombs, both literally and metaphorically.  “And can you get it off the shelf without wheezing and sneezing me into the Geneva Oversight Board Papers from the last thirty years?”

 

“Probably not, so meet me there?” asked Osgood, seeing the thick layer of dust on the shelf.  “With the book please?” she asked, already setting off down the aisle between the tall shelves.

 

“Where?” Kate turned around to look at the shelves while she waited for an answer, studying the titles despondently, “and what book?”

 

“Geneva Oversight Board Papers, and the Consolidated Budget and Accounts for the first ten years of UNIT please.”  

 

Kate considered the shelves, initially intending to bring the book with her but then seeing the inch thick layer of dust and that what Os was really asking for was ten books, each more than two inches thick.  Finishing off her risotto, she put the fork in the mug and held it with her left hand, shoving her right hand in her trouser pocket where she automatically played with the couple of random coins, her security pass and key and the end of a packet of Polos that collectively, was the current accumulated detritus of her day so far, before extracting her security pass and key….the master key to everything UNIT that wasn’t an electronic bioprint or keycard lock… which included the Black Archive and the Librarian’s office.  Ignoring the books, but remembering the mug, Kate set off to the section of the library where the Geneva Oversight Board Papers were shelved, a new plan forming.

 

“Ka-ate….” grumbled Osgood, seeing her girlfriend appearing with the mug and no books.

 

“Come with me.”  Grinning, Kate put her arm around Osgood’s shoulders and started steering her towards the Librarian’s office, knowing that old Mr Brockenthwaite was currently away enjoying his annual fortnight in one of the Wallops, staying with his sister.

 

“Kate, I needed those books,” protested Osgood, nevertheless allowing herself to be propelled in the general direction of the Librarian’s office, “and I haven’t time to ask Brockenthwaite…”

 

“He’s in one of the Wallops, enjoying the hospitality of his sister.”

 

“He is?”  Diverted to a new mystery for a moment, Osgood tried to remember what he’d told her the last time she’d been delayed by his desire for a grumble.  “Ah, Middle Wallop, and his sister Marjorie.  She makes him drink green tea and feed her chickens...”  Osgood repositioned her glasses as she tried to remember how she knew this.  “Oh yes, and he won’t play Bridge with her…” Osgood looked at Kate, a new question occurring to her. “Is he a good Bridge player?”

 

“With the right partner, yes.”  Kate extracted the ‘old fashioned’ key that she invariably used to open the Black Archive but was actually a master key to all the right sort of lock throughout the UNIT offices at the Tower, something she often forgot about, not finding it necessary to go anywhere else it admitted her to.  “He’s not changed his tactical approach or strategy since before the War…” she gave the stiff door a gentle shove so it opened, revealing a sizeable office that hadn’t really changed from the day her father had appointed Brockenthwaite to establish the non-Black Archives of UNIT.

 

“Oh.”  Osgood followed Kate into the office, thinking about what this new information told her about the eccentric librarian whose default answer was always no, seemingly being of the opinion that Archivist was synonymous with Hoarder.  “Is that why he will only play bridge with you?”

 

“Are you accusing me of being pre-War?” teased Kate, turning on the side lamps at either end of the leather-upholstered Chesterfield couch, their creamy-white light easier on her headache than the harsh brightness of the overhead strip lights.

 

“No, well educated.”  Osgood, still stood by the door, turned off the overhead lights and, shutting the door behind her, headed over to the couch to join Kate.  “And an outstanding bridge player.  I’m not surprised that he’d only want to partner you.”  She put her stack of files down on the clear bit of the coffee table, deciding that now she thought about it, as important her problem was, her girlfriend looked weary and the couch did look comfortable…. five minutes wouldn’t make much difference to her day.  “But that does explain why you play differently when you’re his partner.  Left or right?”

 

“Right…” Kate put the mug on top of Osgood’s files and shifted slightly to her right, making room on her left side for Osgood to sit down.  “How could you tell?”  Instead of answering, Osgood gave Kate a rather pointed look as she stepped over her legs and turned to sit down next to her girlfriend of more than a decade, a look Kate correctly interpreted as conveying ‘stupid question Lethbridge-Stewart, but I still love you’.... At least, that was what she hoped it meant.

 

“How was your meeting?” asked Osgood, continuing to pointedly ignore Kate’s question as she sat down and shuffled to get comfortable in the corner of the couch, before, when she was finally ready, she lifted her right arm which was nearest Kate, making it easy for the blonde to settle in close against her, Osgood’s shoulder making a comfortable headrest.

 

“Dull...but noteworthy.  Vice-Admiral Grending was there.”

 

“How is that noteworthy?” asked Osgood, not immediately recognising the name of the latest Naval representative at the MOD and arms length-bodies inter-departmental operational procedures efficiency review group, which somehow had escaped been known as the MODAL-BI-DOPER which Osgood personally thought made it sound far more interesting than it actually was.

 

“There were two of us…” Kate paused in her explanation to groan when Osgood’s experienced fingers found the knot of tight muscles on her right shoulder, just at the base of her neck and prodded firmly enough that Kate could close her eyes and see stars for a moment.  “....women I mean,” she finished, sighing in relief when not only did Osgood lessen the pressure such that the stars stopped exploding behind her eyelids, but also the pain of her headache receded as well, now the muscle spasm was interrupted.

 

“Two women?  At an MOD senior level meeting?”  If Osgood hadn’t had one hand occupied with soothing away her lover’s headache and the other hand carefully holding the now quite sleepy Kate upright-ish, she’d have been polishing her glasses while she worked out the probability of this ever happening again, given that she couldn’t ever remember it happening before.

 

“They’ll be needing to start the next mulit-billion pound redevelopment of their offices next…” mumbled Kate, tentatively stretching her neck slightly, oblivious to what effect this movement had on her girlfriend whose chest she was gently shifting against, “...they’ll have to build another ladies’ loo…”

 

“Or declare everything a transgender space….” pondered Os, not realising she’d been thinking aloud until Kate had pushed herself upright so she could look at her.  “What?”

 

“What am I missing?” asked Kate, smiling when she realised she could move her head without wincing, “and thank you… I feel much better already,” she added, briefly toying with the idea of kissing Os in thanks before realising that, at the angles they were sitting, that required more neck function than she confidently had at this second.

 

“You can thank me later.”  Osgood’s words were kind as she shifted into a slightly more suitable position for talking to Kate about her afternoon, knowing what she’d been thinking and, whilst grateful for the thought, happy to postpone any kisses of thanks until they were no longer in Brockenthwaite’s office.  “It’s this….” Osgood reached forwards and, grabbing the top file from underneath the mug, passed it to Kate who obediently scanned it.

 

“Go on…” Kate leafed through the neatly filled out form, not seeing any issues with it so far, although her eyebrow did twitch when she read some of Osgood’s proposed answers to some of the questions - she hadn’t considered that they’d score so highly in their inclusivity assessments considering they were a combination of scientific research and highly sophisticated military brute force. Then again, there was a reason Osgood had decided she was better than Kate at this sort of stuff.

 

“Question 17, on page 5…” Osgood waited until Kate had turned to the page.  “The second tick box declaration.”

 

“What’s the issue?”  As far as Kate could see, looking from the page to her girlfriend, it was a straightforward yes/no tick box, which, logically speaking, probably should have been question 0 on page 1, not buried right above the declarations.

 

“The online form has a dropdown menu next to it that has to be populated if we tick yes…” Osgood did now reposition her glasses, and check her bowtie was straight before she continued, “and we’re not on it.”

 

“Not on the dropdown menu?”

 

“No...which is a good thing, what with us supposedly being top-secret and highly classified.”

 

“But?”  Kate thought she was seeing Osgood’s difficulty now.

 

“But without being able to select an option, we can’t submit the form…. And never mind anyone else, Tronkie and Drinkie are so looking forward to it.”

 

“Why can’t you put us down as MOD?” asked Kate, handing the form back to Osgood, “and why were you going to wade through the Consolidated Accounts and Budgets from when UNIT was set up?”

 

“Because if I put us down as MOD, it requires chain-of-command signature at Brigadier or equivalent sign off which,” Osgood put her finger on Kate’s lips to stop her interrupting, “I know you could give me, but it creates all sorts of other problems in other places, not to mention Tronkie and Drinkie’s Visitation Permits expressly forbid them from attending military functions or events…”

 

“Ah.”  Distracted for a moment by the mention of Roqurting Representative Tronkrinkgrin and his current companion Drinjkingroun, she asked why their visitation permits contained the military prohibition.

 

“Because that would mean Tronkie had to bring Representative…” Osgood could ‘see’ the Represenative’s full name in her mind but to her immense frustration, couldn’t remember how Pandingkrandora was actually pronounced, as she was sure something strange happened phonetically in Roqurting when the ‘ing’ and the ‘kran’ phonic were together like that.  “Representative ‘call me Pandora’...”

 

“Oh, him.”  Kate knew precisely who Osgood meant, remembering his one and only visit with Tronkie and why all subsequent visitation permits had, at Tronkie’s request, included this unexpected limitation.  “So you need to put us down as something not MOD to complete the form?”

 

“Yes.”  Osgood was relieved that Kate was finally understanding.

 

“And you wanted to look at the original budgets to see if we’d been set up with a contribution by another Civil Service Department?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Home Office.  Is that on the list?”

 

“Yes, but…” Frowning, Osgood wasn’t happy with the idea of her girlfriend just picking a random department in order to satisfy the form filling exercise, even if she was the Boss.

 

“Alien registration, comes under Home Office Jurisdiction… used to be based just off Holborn…”

 

“Yes, but…”  It was Kate’s turn to shush Osgood with a finger to the lips.

 

“No one’s going to believe you if you try to point out they’re the wrong sort of alien…” Kate removed her finger from Osgood’s lips.

 

“But it’s a defunct department.”

 

“Permanent hiatus, not defunct.  Important distinction,” summarised Kate succinctly, “for one thing, no one actually knows what the administrative process is to make something properly defunct in government, just ask the House of Lords…”  Unsurprisingly, that joke earned her a only semi-playful thump on the arm from Osgood, not because she didn’t appreciate the humour, but because she didn’t trust Kate to always remember not to make those sorts of comments at the wrong moments.  “And you’ll find it in the unredacted Geneva Oversight Board Papers from when UNIT was founded, which are on the shelves over there…” she pointed towards the decidedly non-dusty shelves behind the librarian’s desk.

 

“I will?”

 

“Yup.  It was Dad’s original cover, until the cost of the military exceeded even the most paranoid bureaucrat’s belief about what a reasonable cost of ‘Civil Defence’ was.  So the MOD was brought in, but it’s still there.”

 

“So we’re part of the Home Office too?”  Osgood couldn’t believe that she’d worked at the Tower for this long and not known this.

 

“Technically, yes.  You can look it up if you don’t believe me, volume two, page… whatever the August meeting is on.”  

 

Anyone else might have presumed from how readily and easily Kate could answer Osgood’s problem, complete with apparent library references, that this was a case of spurious accuracy, quite simply ‘too good to be true’.  But Osgood wasn’t anyone else, and knew better than most that despite Kate’s impressively relaxed ‘devil may care’ routine when faced with all manner of chaos, she was neither reckless nor a bluffer, and had a far greater understanding of the minutiae of both UNIT and UK administrative rules, regulations and so forth, not least because of the five years she’d spent working for UNIT before taking charge of the Tower.  Add to that the hours she’d spent absorbing the history of UNIT from both the official archives and all her father’s papers, as well as the long conversations she’d had with people like General Bambera, Osgood’s own father and the Brigadier before he died, and it was a naive and foolish adversary that decided to take on Kate Lethbridge-Stewart when she’d made a decision, no matter how small or technical it was.  

 

“Thank you.”  Osgood’s thanks were genuine although she did feel a little foolish for not just asking Kate’s opinion at the outset.

 

“No problem, and you’re not foolish…” They’d known each other long enough, been in love with each other for enough years to be able to not be surprised when one knew what the other was thinking.  “Do you want to go back to my office and I’ll sign everything you need me to sign?”

 

“If you don’t mind?”

 

“Sign my life away for you?”  Kate stood up and offered a hand to Osgood, smiling the smile that only Osgood saw, the smile that was full of love, trust and passion, the smile that spoke of a captured heart and soul.  “Always…  I’ve got an order for new umbrellas and wet weather gear somewhere on my desk.  You can stop me ordering rainbow ones.”

 

“Why would you order rainbow wet weather gear and umbrellas?” asked Osgood, standing up and gathering up her papers, feeling more relaxed than she had done for most of the afternoon.

 

“Have you not seen the forecast for Saturday?  It’s going to pour down and I don’t want us catching colds.”

 

“Saturday…” Puzzled, it took Osgood until they were back at the entrance to the library and walking towards the lift that would take them down into the depths of the Tower and Kate’s office to work out what Kate was talking about.  “You want to go to Cardiff?  This Saturday?”

 

“Sure, why not?  We missed London and I’ve never been…. Not to mention I can do a spot visit to the Castle base…”  Kate pressed the button for the lift, trying not to flinch when they heard the loud crunch of the ancient lift mechanism kicking into gear.

 

“Oh.”  Osgood looked back at the form she could now finish completing. “Best do the online submission then.”

 

“Will the membership fee be within my approval limit?” teased Kate, pleased that despite Osgood’s muted reaction, she’d actually suggested something that was making Osgood quite excited if the rapidity of the little head nods was anything to go by, which it was.

 

“Yes….” Stepping into the lift, Osgood stuck her tongue out at her lover, catching up belatedly with the joke.  “Wait.  Rainbow umbrellas?”

 

“You think UNIT Red would be better?” asked Kate, trying to keep a straight face as she joined Os in the lift, “not clash with all the Welsh Red stuff?  Our usual black or khaki seems…” she pressed the button for the correct level, trying to not laugh, only to be non-too-gently thumped by Osgood who’d finally spotted the joke.

 

“Ka...ate…”

 

“Not rainbow?”

 

“Not rainbow.”

 

“Sparkles?”

 

“No sparkles…. Not with Tronkie and Drinkie coming too,” declared Osgood firmly, knowing those two would be dressed to the nines, having been taken ‘tunic’ shopping by them during their last visit.

 

“Bowler hats and pin stripes it is then.”  Kate had meant it as a joke, but seeing the way Osgood looked at her, it was her turn to be rendered momentarily speechless.

 

“Only if we’re staying somewhere that has room service….” Osgood’s blush was almost as deep as the UNIT beret when she realised she’d voiced that particular thought aloud, although the thought of her lover in pin stripes… and the bowler hat could be fun, somehow…

 

“Good to know,” croaked Kate finally, looking at the lift display, checking that the ancient and slow moving lift was actually still moving.

 

“Regular waterproofs and umbrellas will be fine,” said Osgood eventually, just as the doors opened.  “Lets leave the rainbows and sparkles to everyone else…”

 

“Whatever you want Os…” declared Kate easily, meaning it sincerely - she’d personally never been that bothered about going or not going to a Pride Event, but knew it was something Osgood had been keen to do, and if Osgood was keen to go, well, that was good enough reason for Kate.

 

“You.  Home after the paperwork?”

 

“Home after the paperwork,” agreed Kate as they stepped off the lift and headed down the corridor towards her office…

* * *

  
  
  


And thus, on a wet Saturday in August, Cardiff Pride had four extra marchers in it, two very, very sparkly and two well-wrapped up, but their happiness and obvious love for each other made up for the lack of sequins on their Gortex.  You had to look carefully to spot them, because in many ways, they were completely indistinguishable from anyone else out in the rain, joining in the celebration, but they were there… second from back in the Civil Service Rainbow Alliance section, a dusty and forgotten defunct department of the Home Office, complete with their aliens… but no bowler hats.  Or pin stripes.

 

Those were in the hotel room, next to the room service menu….

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Pride to anyone and everyone wherever you are, be it at the Cardiff Pride on Saturday August 13 2016, a Pride already planning their 2017 celebration or yet to celebrate 2016.
> 
> The Civil Service Rainbow Alliance does exist and will be in the Cardiff Pride (as it has been in other Pride events elsewhere in the UK).
> 
> The Aliens Registration Office did exist, based in a large office building in Lamb's Conduit Street in London, just near Holborn Underground Station. It's no longer got the large sign announcing this (which fascinated me as a child).
> 
> Thanks for reading, please continue to have Pride :-)


End file.
